


Theriomorphism

by taispeantas_laethuil



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-27 08:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5042041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taispeantas_laethuil/pseuds/taispeantas_laethuil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian gets introduced to everyone's daemons, eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter Two is a short little epilogue with very, very minor Trespasser spoilers. Chapter Three is just me rambling on about why I chose the names and animals that I did.
> 
> This takes place in the same universe as [Daemonic Diamorphism](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3460502/chapters/11360047). The original posting of the fic can be found [here](http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/15060.html?thread=59125460#t59125460).

Dorian had once read a monograph of the subject of the effects of urbanization on the settling of daemons. The higher the density of the population, the more likely a daemon was to settle into a more compact creature. Dorian wasn’t entirely sold on the idea- Callixtus was hardly small, after all, and he was a city boy through and through-but he thought of it now, in Haven.  
  
There were people with druffalo for daemons. _Druffalo._  
  
Thankfully, the number of people he was required to interact with regularly was limited almost entirely to the Herald’s group of advisors and companions. The Herald herself had a wolf, which seemed odd given what he knew about elven mythology. If Solas had ever brought it up, he did so well out of Dorian’s earshot, but whenever they were traveling together he couldn’t help but notice the way his raven kept her eyes on Lavellan’s wolf.  
  
“His name is Mi’Samahl,” Lavellan told him after they’d returned from that hellish future, which was how he learned that it was a Dalish tradition to exchange daemon names with anyone they were going to be fighting alongside with for an extended period of time.  
  
She didn’t expect them to all have that level of familiarity with one another, thankfully. Dorian was content to leave it there- what ones’ daemon was called was rather intimate information, after all. He didn’t expect he would become so close with any other member of the Inquisition.  
  
Somehow or another, despite his expectations, he knew quite a few people on a daemon-name basis by the time he returned to Tevinter.

* * *

Sera had a pigeon, a creature that was both utterly appropriate for such an urbanite as herself and a little bit cruel, what with bird daemons being the hallmark of the mages she so feared. He felt something of a bond with her on those terms.  
  
She was also the first person to tell him her daemon’s name without there being any cultural differences that made the act less personal. She didn’t tell him because they were probably going to die horrible screaming demon-inflicted deaths together in the near future: she told him because all their silly discussions about whose people were more shit _meant_ something to her.  
  
“His name’s Shartan,” she said, at random, one night, pointing to where her daemon was contentedly grooming himself perched on the edge of the bench.  
  
Dorian stared at her for a moment.  
  
“Yeah, I know. I was kind of surprised he wasn’t a she too,” Sera told him, misinterpreting his shock.  
  
“Well,” Dorian said, before the situation caught up with him, and he introduced Callixtus in return.

* * *

Cullen had a lion- a red lion, actually, some kind of Fereldan nightmare that stalked the Frostbacks which he’d mercifully never had cause to meet. For a long time, he wondered if Cullen wasn’t a man like himself, as his daemon had a very obvious mane, but no. His daemon had actually settled in a cross-gender fashion, and was, in fact, female.  
  
It was a fact he had cause to learn one night when the lyrium withdrawal was particularly bad, and the Inquisitor was gone, taking Cassandra with her.  
  
“You can’t use magic,” she explained as Dorian was still scrambling to process the fact that Cullen’s daemon had crossed most of Skyhold and shown up outside his door, alone, and was now speaking to him. “He’s not- no magic. Promise me that.”  
  
“Yes, right, no magic,” Dorian parroted back dumbly.  
  
Cullen’s daemon shook her mane. “Promise.”  
  
“I promise,” Dorian said, throwing on his coat. “Is there anything else?”  
  
“Just let him talk,” she pleaded.  
  
Once the morning had come- and gone, in truth- and Cullen was more himself, he was rather profuse in his apologies for the awkwardness of the situation.  
  
“Her name’s Idonae, by the way,” was amongst the information he babbled out.

* * *

Callixtus and the Bull touched long before Dorian and the Bull start having sex. It wasn’t anything short of life saving- Dorian had been thrown well outside of their comfort zone and then hit with a horror spell besides, and neither one of them were mobile. So the Bull scooped Callixtus up and carried him over to where Dorian was lying on a heap in the ground.  
  
Dorian took him with trembling arms and for several long minutes he merely ran his hands over his daemon, reassuring himself that Callixtus was still here, that they were still connected.  
  
The Bull kept watch- not over him, but for any potential intruders, allowing them as much privacy as he could.  
  
And then they moved on.

* * *

“He has very big hands, you know,” Callixtus said, once they were alone in their room back in Skyhold.  
  
Dorian groaned and buried his head under his pillow. Sadly, there was no point in pretend he didn’t know which he Callixtus spoke of. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered into his mattress.

* * *

The Bull’s daemon was a boar.  
  
He thought it appropriate, considering the man’s utter lack of manners. And his horns. And his girth.  
  
Later, much later, he would remember that boars were considered surprisingly intelligent animals, and that should have been a clue.

* * *

His father’s daemon was a black stork, and her name was Monica. She perched on the newel post of the Gull and Lantern, watching Callixtus with sad, unblinking eyes until Mi’Samahl saw fit to step forward and growl at her. Then she reared back, her wings spread wide.  
  
“ _Din_ ,” Lavellan snapped at her daemon, and he quieted, though his teeth remained bared.  
  
“He tried to change your daemon,” she repeated flatly.  
  
Dorian nodded mutely. If he opened his mouth he would not be responsible for what came out of it.  
  
“Right,” she said, laying a hand on his arm. “Let’s get you out of here.”  
  
Dorian nodded again, and turned with her to leave.  
  
“Dorian…” his father tried.  
  
They ignored him.  
  
“Callixtus,” Monica whispered, and how long had it been since his father’s daemon spoke in his presence? Not since he was a child.  
  
Mi’Samahl growled again. Lavellan didn’t quiet him this time, and his growling turned into harsh snarling words. “Leave him be, _harellan_.”  
  
“If Dorian decides he wants to listen to you, _he_ will reach out to you, _he_ will decide when and where that meeting will take place, and _he_ will not being going alone,” Lavellan said firmly. "If you really want to talk to him, _you_ will content yourself with that." She took him by the arm, and guided him out into sunlight.  
  
It seemed so strange, that it should still be sunny. For all that he knew that they’d spent perhaps ten entire minutes in the tavern, it seemed to him that more time should have passed.  
  
“I could shoot him,” Sera offered, falling into step beside him. Cassandra took his other side, her lynx forming a short of honor guard for Callixtus with Mi’Samahl.  
  
“What?” Dorian asked.  
  
“Your old man. I could shoot him.”  
  
“I would prefer it if you would not murder my father,” Dorian managed.  
  
“Didn’t say it would kill him. There are plenty of places people can get shot in and not die,” Sera informed him. “Bet you I could hit him so he couldn’t have any other kids to fuck over.”  
  
“I appreciate the sentiment, but no thanks,” Dorian said.  
  
“We could have him arrested,” Cassandra offered. “I am a Seeker, and he is a blood mage.”  
  
“He didn’t actual perform the ritual. On me, at least. There were experiments ongoing- he wasn’t actually involved with them, I don’t think. Not like that. Funding them, maybe- but the victims were all slaves. The Venatori would only use pressing charges for crimes committed against slaves as proof that the Inquisition is hostile to the Imperium. And this isn’t the way to the village gates?”  
  
“No, it’s the way to the other tavern in Redcliffe,” Lavellan informed him.  
  
“Excellent plan,” Dorian said. “I’m going to drink myself into a stupor, I think. It’s been that sort of day.”  
  
Later, when Sera had passed out and Lavellan had taken her back to their room, Cassandra turned to him.  
  
“Your father will return to Tevinter, I take it?” she asked.

“Let’s hope so,” Dorian replied.  
  
For a moment they sat in silence, while Dorian calculated his chances of finishing this pint without making himself sick.  
  
“My father died when I was very young,” Cassandra volunteered after the moment had passed.  
  
“I won’t say you’re lucky, because you’re not, but there are days…” He sighed, decided _fuck his calculations_ , and finished his drink. It sat uncomfortably in his stomach, but his stomach held fast.  
  
“I understand,” Cassandra said softly. “You have my sympathy.”  
  
Dorian nodded wearily and put his head down on the table. He lifted it up again when he heard an unfamiliar male voice say “Jarilo.”  
  
Dorian looked around, and when he saw no person near enough to have said it, turned to Cassandra’s daemon.  
  
“My name is Jarilo,” the lynx clarified.  
  
“And mine is Callixtus,” his daemon replied.

* * *

Going after someone’s daemon in the height of battle was something of a dirty tactic. It would never be allowed in dueling, was rarely seen in sparing matches, but in actual fights? It was distressingly common.  
  
Still, some things were beyond taboo, and physical touching another’s daemon was one of them. It wasn’t common for melee fighters to go after someone’s daemon, or even ranged fighters, though when it came to attacks that covered a wide area, it was hardly avoidable. It was far more common for their opponent’s daemons to attack their daemons while their people engaged one another.  
  
Sometimes, people went after their strongest daemon’s first: Lavellan’s wolf, Cassandra’s lynx, the Bull’s boar. Other times, they went for the weakest daemons- the ones which were neither physically intimidating nor particularly easy to carry on one's person. Varric’s nug was one such creature, given his own lack of altitude. Callixtus was another.  
  
He was also much better at fighting then he looked. For one thing, many people seemed to be under the impression that peacocks were flightless birds, and there was always a moment of surprise when he took wing. For another: spurs.  
  
Callixtus opened the throat of more than one daemon with those. The Bull’s daemon found the move enchanting, and wasn’t quiet about it, which was originally how Dorian knew she was a she at all.

* * *

Dorian knew that it was highly unlikely that he be the only person in Skyhold with a daemon the same gender as themselves, but it took time for him to discern who that was. It wasn’t Sera, it wasn’t Cullen, it wasn’t the Bull, and though someone at some point must have thought as much about Krem, he was fairly certain that his hyena was female.

It turned out that, out of the circle of people he regularly associated with in Skyhold, Dagna was the only other one with such a daemon. And the fact that she was female was hardly the most unusual thing about her.  
  
“It’s okay, you know, you can ask,” Dagna said when she caught him staring. “Well, you can ask, but I don’t know what she is. No one does. Isn’t it great?”  
  
“The adjective certainly looks like it would be in the name,” Dorian observed. “The Great Horned Plaguebeast, perhaps?”  
  
Dagna’s daemon snorted, a terrifying sound. “We think I might be a cretahl, actually,” she said.  
  
Dagna nodded. “They probably went extinct when the darkspawn appeared, if they ever existed at all, but the legends speak of warbeasts stronger than three brontos with a massive horned frill and silver eyes. Look, see? Sunnifa’s eyes look like they’re made of mercury!”  
  
Sunnifa rolled her eyes as Dagna pointed up at them. They were indeed entirely silver.  
  
“Well. Let’s hope they really are extinct,” Dorian said. “I’d hate to run into one of those the next time the Inquisitor takes me spelunking.”

* * *

The Bull’s daemon normally sat near his feet. The day after the dreadnought went down in flames, she sat in his lap instead.  
  
It took weeks before she returned to sitting on the floor, and when she did, Callixtus made a point of settling down near her.  
  
“This is bad idea,” Dorian admonished him whenever they were alone.  
  
“You like him,” Callixtus said.  
  
“He’s brute with an aversion to shirts and bathing and far too great a fondness for blood and dragons,” Dorian reminded him.  
  
“That’s what I said,” Callixtus huffed, and refused to speak to him for the rest of the night.

* * *

There were some daemons whose names Dorian learned purely out of proximity. Helisima had a bluebird, rendered blank-eyed and silent by the Rite of Tranquility. She called him Laban, sometimes, when she wanted him to fetch something for her. Fiona had a kestrel named Dhaval; Krem’s hyena was names Tiresias.  
  
Josephine’s daemon wasn’t like that. He’d gone out of his way to avoid them once he'd caught sight of him, as a matter of fact: her daemon had settled into the same form as Rilienus’ daemon, a pretty purple monal bird.  
  
He didn’t speak to her alone until after he’d tried to get his birthright back. He only overheard his name- Renato- by accident.  
  
Josephine sent him to Leliana, who outlined option after option after resource-imposing option to him, and he found that he didn’t need his birthright back so badly after all.  
  
“Should you change your mind,” Leliana said. “Elpidios and I are willing to help.” Leliana's daemon- not a nightingale, as one might expect, but a starling- bobbed his head in assent.  
  
“Thank you,” Dorian said, after a moment to recover from the shock. “And Callixtus and I are always at the Inquisition’s service.”  
  
He walked down from the rookery and straight into Mother Giselle. He ended up making a formal pledge of loyalty to the Inquisitor after she intervened.

* * *

“Revas,” Dorian said flatly. “Your daemon is a raven… named Revas.”  
  
“Did I stutter?” Solas asked.  
  
“My point exactly,” Dorian replied.

* * *

When it was a quick fuck or a one night stand, daemons didn’t touch, but merely stood awkwardly nearby (or kept watch, depending upon the particulars of the situation) and waited for it to be over.  
  
When one night turned into two turned into three turned into something… the Bull’s boar pressed some of her bulk against Callixtus’ side.  
  
A few nights later, he draped his wing over her in return.

* * *

Bianca’s daemon was a deepstalker. He never got his name, but after she’d left, Varric got incredibly drunk, took off his shirt, and announced to the whole of the tavern that his daemon’s name was Ragna.  
  
Ragna herself squeaked piteously, which was the Bull’s cue to help Varric to his room. He was very apologetic about the whole affair come the next afternoon. 

* * *

Cole’s daemon was as odd as he was: sometimes there, and sometimes not. After he’d confronted the Templar that had murdered the first Cole, she was always there, but unsettled, changing form. It worried Dorian, and it worried Lavellan too: for all that they knew it was more due to Cole’s unique existence than anything else, an unsettled daemon was the hallmark of a child.  
  
Solas had already left when she finally settled into a sleek grey rabbit, which meant that he was going to have to learn how to protect her when they fought, the same way Varric covered his nug.  
  
“She needs a name,” Cole said. “The first Cole’s daemon had a name, but this isn’t him and her, it’s me and her. What do I name her?”  
  
“Traditionally, one’s parents’ daemons name their child’s daemon,” Dorian said. “I suppose you might ask Varric for his input. He’s an author, he must think up names for daemons all the time.”  
  
“Can you come, too?” Cole asked, and there was nothing Dorian could do but agree.  
  
“Pick a name that’s important to you,” was Varric’s advice.  
  
Cole cycled through names that meant something to the both of them: Bianca, Hawke, Sera, Monica, Aquinea …  
  
“Bunny,” he finally blurted, his face brightening. “That’s what the first Cole’s sister was called. Bunny.”  
  
Varric and Dorian looked at each other. Callixtus and Ragna looked at Cole’s daemon.  
  
“It fits,” Bunny said, and that was that.

* * *

“I bring news,” Dorian announced. “Your daemon is definitely a cretahl, and they aren’t extinct.”  
  
Dagna was in a state of undress and flushed bright red, and Shartan was roosting on Sunnifa’s horns. Sera herself wasn't visible, thank the Maker.  
  
“But never mind about that,” Dorian said, and fled before he had to know the details of what Sera had been doing when he'd entered the undercroft.

* * *

Vivienne’s daemon was small, plain-looking bird. Many people had probably confused him for a common songbird of some kind, but Dorian was not fooled: he knew what a butcher-bird looked like. Her daemon was a shrike, and he did not look any more pleased to be speaking to him than his human did.  
  
“I’ve received word from friends of mine in the Imperium,” Vivienne told him. “He wished to know if the disturbing rumors surrounding you and the Bull were true.”  
  
Dorian felt a pit open up in his stomach. “Ah. You were only too happy to confirm them, I presume?”  
  
“No, I did not confirm that you had picked up a qunari body slave,” Vivienne informed him coolly. “Instead I told him that the only thing disturbing in evidence was his penmanship.”  
  
“They- what?” Dorian spluttered. “ _What_ the- _vishante kaffas_ , where did they get the idea-”  
  
“Don’t make a fuss, Dorian,” Vivienne said. “I corrected him, as you may recall. I even did so without informing him of the rather more equitable relationship you enjoy with the Bull, as I know the subject can make you a tad overwrought.”  
  
“Oh,” Dorian said, forcing himself into something approaching serenity. “Thank you.”  
  
“You might thank Iften,” Vivienne said, indicating her daemon. “It was his idea. And if you make me regret that defense, he will be the one who thinks of a suitable response, I’m sure.”  
  
Dorian blinked at the shrike.  
  
Callixtus answered for him. “Thank you, Iften.”  
  
“You’re welcome, Callixtus,” Iften replied.  
  
It wasn’t until later that Dorian realized that he’d never told either of them his daemon’s name.

* * *

“Twila,” Blackwall- Rainier’s mabari daemon- introduced herself, and then they left to join the Wardens.  
  
It seemed like a lot of people were leaving, the world slowly getting its footing back in the wake of Corypheus’ defeat. Solas had disappeared, Leliana had become Divine Victoria I, Varric was going to Kirkwall…  
  
The time was fast approaching when he would leave too. The knowledge made him reckless, made him frantic. He kissed the Bull in the courtyard, in plain sight of everyone: he suggested they fuck, right outside, fresh from a dragon fight. He stayed curled up in the Bull’s room for days, soaking in every little rustic luxury he could never admit to liking once he was back home.  
  
Home. It was such a strange thing to think.  
  
“What’s her name?” Dorian asked him.  
  
“She doesn’t have one,” the Bull replied. “Daemons aren’t given names under the Qun.”  
  
“Oh,” Dorian replied. “Well. Mine is called Callixtus.”  
  
The Bull snickered softly, and waved over at where their daemons were cuddled together. “Hey, Callixtus. Nice to be meet you.”  
  
Callixtus stood, and Dorian knew exactly what he was planning before he did it. The Bull was surprised, though, when Callixtus stretched up his neck and tucked his head underneath his hand.  
  
“Oh,” the Bull said, as Dorian let out a little gasp at the phantom sensation. “Hey.”  
  
The Bull’s boar padded over to Dorian’s side of the bed. Dorian draped his arm over the side, and let her pressed her snout against in. The Bull let out a breathy sigh, and Dorian fumbled around until he found the Bull’s free hand and squeezed it tightly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Minor) Trespasser Spoilers Ahoy!

He hadn’t seen the Bull in well over a year by the time he returned to the South. He was nervous: he couldn’t imagine seeing the Bull and not thinking about how much he wanted him, but who was there to say that the Bull still wanted him?

The Bull, apparently.

Dorian’s ribs creaked in protest as the Bull held him close, but they were really the only part of him that really minded.

“ _Talan_ ,” the Bull told him. His voice rumbled, and Maker, he'd forgotten what the Bull sounded like. 

Dorian blinked. “Have you taken a blow to the head recently? Dorian, _amatus_. My name is Dorian.”

The Bull loosened his grip a little, so that they could see each other, and shook his head.

“My daemon,” the Bull told him. “I named her Talan.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The requisite rambling about daemons portion of the story.

Dorian- Peacock- Callixtus

I had Dorian's daemon down as a peacock before the kinkmeme brought the subject up and reminded me to actually write the fic, mostly for the sake of cruel irony. Pavus is Latin for peacock, so you'd think that having one for a daemon would be appropriate, right? But the way Tevinter operates, having an abnormal daemon is frowned upon, and having a daemon the same gender as yourself is (for the purposes of this fic, at least) correlated with being somewhere in the QUILTBAG, which just makes the problem that much worse. 

The name "Callixtus" is a variation of the Latin name Callistus, which itself is derived from the Greek name "Kallistos" meaning "most beautiful. The spelling is probably influenced by the word "calix", Latin for "wine cup".

Sera- Pigeon- Shartan

Pigeons are the ultimate survivor of city streets, so I feel like that's a good fit for Sera. When it comes to her daemon's gender... I went back and forth for a bit, but ultimately went with male. I'm not entirely sure how to articulate why- something about a state of pariahhood, which Sera has, but in a very different way to Dagna and Dorian.

"Shartan" is, of course, the elf who lead the slave rebellions with Andraste. If I'd gone with a female daemon, she would have been named "Adaia" after the City Elf Warden's mother.

Lavellan- Wolf- Mi'Samahl

Wolves seem like their feared and respected in elven culture, and, of course, the Emerald Knights used them in warfare in much the same way Fereldans use mabari. There's also a bit of Patronus-type romantic compatibility of form settling involved: Solas is the Dread Wolf, after all, and ravens and wolves have a symbiotic relationship (see Solas' entry below).

"Mi'Samahl" is Elvhen for "laughing blade".

Solas- Raven- Revas

Ravens and wolves have a symbiotic relationship: ravens will take part of a wolf pack's kill, even feed alongside them. 

"Revas" is Elvhen for "freedom".

Vivienne- Shrike- Iften

Shrikes are a group of passerine birds perhaps most famous for killing their prey, impaling it on thorns, twigs, or other spiky implements of nature, and then tearing the carcasses apart.

"Iften" is an Amazigh name meaning "better than them".

Cullen- Red Lion- Idonae

Red lions are a Thedosian creature mentioned in the tabletop RPG: I decided to have her take a masculine form because of Cullen's role in the Inquisition being more a matter of defense. 

"Idonae" is an Old English name that probably descends from the name of the Norse goddess Iðunn, who guards the apples of eternal youth. I was aiming for of a rebirth/renewal thing, considering his struggles to overcoming his prejudices and his addiction to lyrium. 

Cassandra-Lynx- Jarilo

I was picturing specifically the Canadian lynx, which has been observed to form social groups and then break them off as needed. I feel like that works for someone who found a home and a family with the Seekers, and also the strength to leave them when they went too far.

"Jarilo" is one spelling of the name of a Slavic deity involving spring and vegetation. He's also associated with St. George the Dragon Slayer.

Josephine-Monal- Renato

Himalayan monal birds are very, very pretty. You should google them. They're also known as the impeyan monal, named after Lady Mary Impey, who was a budding biologist and patron of the arts back in the day.

"Renato" is the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese form of the name "Renatus", which means "rebirth".

Originally I had this whole big Thing planned where Dorian was dancing around her because her daemon reminded him so strongly of Rilienus', they even had very similar names, but then I remember that Dorian never asked.

Leliana- Starling- Elpidios

Starlings are smart and adaptable- and also, every-fucking-where.

"Elpidios" is a Greek name derived from "elpis" or "hope".

Blackwall- Mabari-Twila

I figure mabari are probably a common daemon, particularly for Fereldans. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to presume that actualfact Blackwall's daemon was a mabari as well.

"Twila" either comes from the word "twilight" or the French word "étoile" or "star", reflecting the dual nature of Blackwall's identity.

Varric- Nug- Ragna

I picked a nug for Varric because it's a creature that originated underground, but really thrived up on the surface.

"Ragna" is an Old Norse name meaning "advice".

Cole- Rabbit- Bunny

Cole likes rabbits.

"Bunny" was what his sister was called.

Dagna- Cretahl- Sunnifa

Dagna's daemon is female, essentially because that just felt right to me. And I picked a cretahl because I feel like Dagna's daemon would stretch the bounds of credulity, and also seem really inappropriate for the smith caste.

"Sunnifa" is a Old Norse name meaning "sun gift".

Halward- Black Stork- Monica

Black storks are one of those birds which practices infanticide in times of trouble.

"Monica" is named for St. Monica, the patron saint of difficult marriages and disappointing children. Her disappointing child, by the way, was St. Augustine.

The Iron Bull- Boar- Talan

Coming up with a daemon for the Bull was hard: the guy is complex, and unlike any other character that can be said of, he's pretty upfront about being more than he appears. I knew that I wanted to give him an imposing animal, but it had to be one that could also show his softer side.

I was drawn to wild pigs because a) tusks b) members of the porcine family are pretty smart and also cute. I stumbled across the boars use in European heraldry and happened upon the fact that boars mean courage and hospitality, and that was it. 

"Talan" is Qunlat for "truth", symbolizing his break from being Hissrad.


End file.
